


Tired of Cleaning Up After You

by atamascolily



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: New Republic Era - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, Force Visions, Jedi Training, Missing Scene, Rescue Missions, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Ysalamiri (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 07:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15967703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atamascolily/pseuds/atamascolily
Summary: Mara races to Luke Skywalker's rescue as he battles a rogue student with plans for galactic dominion. Not because she likes him, of course, but nobody deserves to die like that, and she has to live in the galaxy, too.That said, she's not going to let him walk away without calling him out on his part in this mess.(Fix-it fic forThe New Rebellion, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.)





	Tired of Cleaning Up After You

_“I’ve been seeing Luke on a sandstone street, burning alive.”_

_Her husky voice sent chills through Han. “Can you see the future?” he asked._

_“I don’t think so,” [Mara] said_

_..._

_“Luke knew,” Mara said. “My sources say Kueller was one of his students. Luke let him get away.”_

_“Luke never lets students ‘get away.’ They’re free to leave if they want.”_

_“Well, my sources say Kueller left in hatred. That vision of Luke backs it up.”_

-Kristine Kathryn Rusch, _The New Rebellion_. 

 

 _Fire_. 

Pain blossomed up Mara's back as the heat swarmed up her skin, searing everything it touched with the acrid smell of burning plastic and durasteel. She swore and slapped at herself with her injured hand in startlement, only to find her jumpsuit intact and her body whole. An image struck her, and she realized as vivid as her agony was, it was only secondhand. 

Once again, she saw Luke Skywalker, on a deserted sandstone street, some place she didn't recognize, rolling on the ground in agony, wreathed in smoke and sparks as his flight suit burned. 

This was the third time she'd experienced this particular vision. It didn't get any easier with repetition. 

"You all right?" Han Solo looked up from his place in the pilot's chair of the _Millennium Falcon_ as his Wookiee co-pilot roared in agreement. 

She sagged back in her chair behind them, determined not to let her turbulent emotions crack her veneer of calm indifference. "I'm fine," she insisted. "Being around those damn ysalamiri makes my skin itch, that's all." 

That was an outright lie, of course - she'd lived on Myrkr when it was Karrde's base and never had any problems - but it was one Solo wanted to hear. "Sorry," he said, clearly not sorry at all, but playing with social niceties for form's sake. How very civilized of him. "I guess that means this Kueller's in for an unpleasant surprise when we show up." 

"I hope so," Mara said. _That_ she didn't have to fake. She wanted that bastard dead just as much as Solo did - if not more. After all, _he_ wasn't the one who'd been enduring the visions of pain and suffering for weeks. 

Solo didn't like her much, and that was fine - she didn't particularly care for him either - but their personal feelings didn't matter in the slightest right now. What they cared about was Skywalker's continued survival and putting an end to the Force-using megalomaniac who was slaughtering millions in his bid for galactic dominion. Anything else could wait until the crisis was over. 

But there was no way in hell she'd admit to him the depth of her concern for Skywalker. Or how badly those visions were affecting her. 

They were skimming through Almania's atmosphere now, leaving the battle that raged above them far, far behind. Her right hand ached where the laser cannon had exploded underneath her from a lucky shot from a TIE fighter on their desperate run towards the planet. Solo's ship was a piece of crap held together with shafti-tape and spit, but it was their only hope to make it in time to stop Kueller. 

Hope was a dangerous thing, but right now it was all they had. 

Well, that, and the ysalamiri stuffed into the cargo hold. It might only buy them a few seconds, but she'd make sure that that was all they needed. 

"We're close," she said, reaching over Solo's shoulder to point through the viewscreen towards a tall tower, rising out of a sea of broken rubble and ruins. The buildings at its feet were the only ones still intact within twenty kilometers. "They're somewhere in _there_."

"Great," Solo muttered - irritably, but not at her. "Chewie, let's look for a place to land, okay? Shouldn't be hard with all those wide, open plazas. Mara, let us know if you pick up any other insights, all right?" 

Fire swirled through Mara's vision. Screams echoed in her ears and a death's head mask loomed above her, its mouth cocked in an empty, gap-toothed grin. Taunting her. Mocking her. And then it was gone. 

Gritting her teeth as her vision cleared, Mara nodded. "I will." 

*** 

She made Solo and the Wookie take the two nutrient frame backpacks with ysalamiri. She hadn't had time to bring more, and the frames were heavy and cumbersome. It was better for her to stay light and limber, on her feet and ready to move in any direction at a moment's notice, letting her companions lead the way while she skulked behind them, watching for any trouble that might rise out of the rubble and try to stop them. 

The hard part was staying within range of the ysalamiri's Force-dampening effect. As tempting as it was to venture out to use her senses, her advantage would be lost if Kueller knew she was with Solo. She thought he was distracted toying with Skywalker and Organa Solo but she didn't care to bet her life on the prospect. Or anyone else's, for that matter. 

She was angry at Skywalker, angrier than she had been in a long time, even angrier than she had been when she thought he'd been the one to murder the Emperor and destroy her life. Her anger hadn't truly belonged to her then--it was the last, dying echo of the vengeful man who had enslaved and manipulated her for most of her life. This time, her anger was entirely her own. 

Skywalker had known Kueller--had trained him personally--and let him walk away to slaughter millions of innocent people. 

Skywalker wasn't responsible for Kueller's actions, but his negligence was the reason why she was haunted by screams and explosions, nightmares that didn't wait for sleep to stalk her. It was Skywalker's fault he'd been Kueller's target, Skywalker's fault she was rushing to rescue him yet again. 

And save the galaxy from Kueller, if she failed to save Skywalker first. 

She knew anger lead to the Dark Side. Skywalker had said as much. The Emperor had, too. Anger was fuel, and a powerful one, but like any fire, it could overwhelm and destroy those who were careless with it. 

Whatever happened, she wouldn't let it consume her before she'd taken Kueller down. The stakes were much too high. 

It was just as well her Force senses were numbed and bruised by the ysalamiri. It kept her head clear and her vision sharp. She could focus strictly on what was actually there, rather than any illusions sent to distract her. 

After so much pain, she found the cold emptiness of life in the ysalamiri's bubble to be a relief - another tidbit she would never, ever share with Solo. 

"Leia!" Solo shouted suddenly, pointing down a narrow alleyway jutting off to one side. "She went that way!" 

The Wookiee yowled in acknowledgement and the two of them raced forward, paying no attention to Mara whatsoever--only to yelp in startlement as something large, white and woolly lunged at them. 

Mara's blaster was in her hand before her mind had consciously registered the threat. She fired two shots, and the creature yowled in pain as one scorched its tail and reared up, allowing Solo and the Wookiee to rush forward past it. Its head twisted in her direction, and she leapt up on the boulder next to her, and clambered towards the rubble skirting the alleyway - the same direction that her companions had gone, on what remained of the buildings. 

Not finding her where it expected, the creature swiveled its head back in the direction that Solo and the Wookiee had gone, and rushed after them. Not her problem. 

Well, it _was_ her problem, but not the most pressing one at the moment. She was too high up now for the creature to get at her now. She'd take it out if she had to, but Kueller was her first priority. 

Hell, maybe that thing would _eat_ Kueller first and spare her the trouble. 

The ysalamiri field was growing weaker. Any second now, she'd lose it. She had to hurry lest she lose her cover. 

Scrambling over ruined buildings wasn't as easy as running full-tilt through the alley, but then the weakening ebbed and she realized that either the creature had caught up to Solo or he'd decided to make a stand to fight it. 

Breathing hard, she made it across the string of broken rooftops--sometimes seconds before they collapsed behind her--grateful she hadn't taken a nutrient frame backpack with her. This would be a lot harder if she'd had to carry that much extra weight. 

She heard Solo shout in dismay as she reached the edge of the last building,, saw him go down twenty feet below her as the creature reached for the nutrient frame backpack--even as the Wookiee roared in dismay--

\--and then a familiar buzz and crackle of lightsabers hit her, and she turned and looked down in the other direction to see Skywalker engaged in combat with a dark-robed figure wearing the death's head mask she recognized from her visions, saw Organa Solo crouched to one side, her mouth open in desperation--

Skywalker was facing Mara, but he wasn't looking up. He was staring at the masked figure before him, a calm, weary smile as he raised his glowing green lightsaber in front of him, completely abandoning his fighting stance--

" _Luuuuuuuuuuke!_ " Organa screamed as Kueller brought his lightsaber up, preparing to strike.

Kueller staggered as Solo and the Wookiee--still wrestling with the white woolly creature--rounded the corner into the plaza where his wife and brother-in-law were fighting with Kueller. The beatific expression left Skywalker's face and he stumbled backwards in confusion out of Kueller's range as the red lightsaber came down where he had been. 

Kueller clearly didn't enjoy being within range of the ysalamiri's Force-blocking effect. Assuming he knew what it was, which he probably didn't. 

But that wasn't enough to stop him. Adopting a one-handed grip on his lightsaber, he reached for something at his waist, some sort of remote, punching in numbers as he went. She didn't know what it was, but it didn't bode well--

\--but now Skywalker wasn't directly behind Kueller, and Mara had a clear line of fire--

She didn't hesitate. She raised her blaster and fired three shots into Kueller's back in quick succession, just as she'd been taught as a child in the vast shooting range in the depths of the Imperial Palace. 

With a scream, he crumpled and went down, his lightsaber rolling across the stone pavement in one direction as the remote soared in the opposite direction to land in a shower of sparks before it extinguished itself in a sputtering hiss. 

Skywalker looked up, a dazed expression on his face. "Mara?" he mouthed. "What--How--?" 

She holstered the blaster, and resisted the temptation to to strike a pose. "I'm here to save your ass, Skywalker." _Yet again,_ she thought, but didn't say. "The least you could do is thank me." 

"I--" He swallowed. Looked down at the dead man at his feet, his former student. 

A man she'd killed in cold blood without remorse. A man she'd kill again in a heartbeat if she had to. 

"Thank you," Skywalker said slowly, his gaze never leaving her face. 

She nodded, and began looking for the best way down to ground level. They needed to talk about Kueller, but now was not the time or place. 

Organa Solo came over and embraced her brother, before kneeling down beside Kueller and removing his mask. By the time Mara finished clambering down the building to the plaza, there was only a blank-eyed young man with chubby cheeks and a stunned expression. The only sign of the darkness that had possessed him were a few angry lines around his eyes. 

It was clear why he had used a mask, Mara thought. Nobody would be frightened of someone who looked so harmless. 

"A child," Organa Solo whispered. "So many deaths, so much pain and terror--and a _child_ \--" 

"No," Skywalker said, coming beside her to take his sister's arm. "He chose a different path. He gave up his innocence a long time ago." 

That was probably true, Mara thought, as she strode towards them, but it definitely wasn't the whole story. She was going to have to talk to him about that. 

The white woolly creature appeared to have given up on Solo and the Wookiee and was loping over to Skywalker. With a laugh, he reached out to pet and stroke it. "Hey, you," he said. "Find anything good to eat in this place?" 

"He ate our ysalamiri!" Solo shouted, as he and the Wookiee came forward. They were still wearing the nutrient backpacks, but there were no signs of any of the lizards--and skids and toothmarks where the creature's teeth had chipped and gauged the frames. "We brought them here to stop Kueller and it _ate_ them before they could do any good--" 

Skywalker's face cleared and he laughed again, even as he reached to embrace his brother-in-law. "So _that's_ what happened. Don't worry, Han, you helped quite a bit." 

"Han!" shouted Organa Solo, as she leapt into her husband's arms for a passionate embrace. Mara couldn't blame her--as Chief of State for the New Republic, this hadn't been an easy week for _her_ , either. 

Skywalker turned to Mara, who was standing off to one side, unwilling to get involved in the happy family reunion. "And so did you," he acknowledged, reaching out to her with his right hand--the mechanical one, with all of the artificial skin sloughed off it. 

She smiled icily at him and didn't approach, didn't take his hand. She was so tired. So very, very tired. She hadn't slept well in weeks since the crisis started. 

Skywalker looked surprisingly good for someone whom she'd last seen engulfed in flames. He was limping and there were still traces of burns across his neck and shoulders, but Jedi healing trances had done wonders. One of these days, he was going to have to teach her the technique. 

She hoped he wasn't going to lecture her about the dark side, about killing Kueller in anger. She didn't want to hear it. Not from him. Not right now. 

Maybe not ever. 

***

The _Millennium Falcon_ had been badly damaged in the rush to reach Organa Solo and Skywalker in time, which meant they were stuck planetside until Solo and the Wookie repaired it. Mara thought about comming Karrde, who was helping the New Republic fleet with their mopping-up action against Kueller's remaining forces, for a lift out, but decided against it, at least for now. She didn't want to leave before she'd had a chance to talk to Skywalker. In private. 

Solo and the Wookiee seemed more inclined to argue with each other than fix anything, so Skywalker and his sister had struck up a game of dejarik in the passenger lounge to keep out of the fray. Organa Solo had just captured one of Skywalker's pieces when Mara tapped him on the shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt your game, but I need to talk to you, Skywalker."

Skywalker looked over at Organa Solo, who glanced from her brother to Mara and back again before freezing the holo-game in place. "Don't worry, we can pick up when you get back." She tilted her head back towards the aft engines, from which snatches of a loud argument could be heard. "Doesn't look like we're going anywhere soon." 

"Let's step outside," Mara said to Luke. Being on Almania, with its too-thin atmosphere and all its people slaughtered by Kueller, was unsettling, but it was the best way to prevent Organa Solo from overhearing their conversation. 

He nodded, and let her lead him off the ship. 

Night had fallen outside, and the stars were visible overhead. She leaned against a piece of rubble, craning her neck up to take in the stars. Skywalker did the same. For several minutes, they stood quietly together in silence. In the stillness and peace of the moment, se could almost forget her anger with him. Almost. 

"You're upset with me," he said at last. "I can feel it." 

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I am," she said. "I have every right to be. Why did you let Dolph leave Yavin to become Kueller?"

He closed his eyes, sighing in resignation, as if her question had wounded him. "How did you know?" he asked quietly. 

Mara crossed her arms over her chest. "When I began having visions--of screaming and pain and darkness and millions of lives snuffed out all over the galaxy--I started making inquiries. They led straight to your Academy. To you." 

"I know," Skywalker said. There was a stiffness and sluggishness now that hadn't been present before. "I thought about that. When I was fighting him. I thought about how I had created this monster. How I'd taught him that the murder of millions sent echoes through the Force, how the dark side offered a quick an easy path to power. If I hadn't taught him--if I hadn't warned him, over and over again, of the opportunities that his anger and hatred offered--" 

" _No_ ," she interjected. "That's not it. That's not it at all." 

He looked up, frowning. "What do you mean?" 

"You're not a miracle worker, Skywalker," she growled. "Nobody expects you to turn out perfect Jedi every time. But he _was_ your student and you _did_ empower him with abilities he wasn't mature enough to handle. So he lashed out, and this world and your sister's government--not to mention the rest of the galaxy--paid the price. I don't even know what his particular grievance was--" 

"--He was angry that the Almanian government tortured and murdered his family--" 

"--and I don't really care," Mara finished, ignoring him. "It doesn't matter what his motive was, it was still murder. My point is, it's fine to let students go if they don't work out, and it's all fine and noble to insist that they'll find their own path to the light--but you need to keep an eye on them, otherwise they'll come back to bite you and your precious New Republic government in the ass. If you want to re-establish the Jedi order, you have take responsibility. And you failed. Utterly and spectacularly failed. And I haven't been able to sleep for _weeks_ as a result."

She was never going to tell him she'd seen him burning in the streets as his ship exploded around him. Never never never. Hopefully Solo wouldn't tell him, either.

She didn't know why she'd had those visions of Skywalker. Now that the crisis was over and the Force was calm, maybe she wouldn't pick up on his distress anymore. She hoped so, anyway. 

"I'm tired of cleaning up after you, Skywalker. If you can't keep your students from going rogue and killing everyone, then maybe you shouldn't have them in the first place--" 

His breath caught in his throat as if on the verge of tears. "I know," he whispered.

She'd expected him to fight, argue, struggle with her. His acquiescence was disturbing, as was this unexpected display of emotion. She wasn't prepared for that. 

But she wasn't here to coddle him, either. "So what are you going to do about it?" 

"I--" he stammered. Stopped. Thought about it for a moment. Stared up at the stars for a long time before turning to meet her gaze, blue eyes earnest and determined. "You're right. Things can't go on like this. I'll have to take responsibility." 

Message delivered and received. They were done here. "Good," she said. "Because if I have to get involved again, Skywalker--let's just say I won't be too thrilled about it." 

He glanced away. "I'm--sorry to inconvenience you." 

"You did a hell of a lot more than _inconvenience_ me, Skywalker--" 

"But I'm so glad you came." 

Now it was her turn to stop and blink, caught off-guard by this sudden, simple declaration--and angry at herself for how unsettled and confused it made her feel. "Yeah, well, I live in this galaxy, too, you know," she said quickly. "Can't get much trading done in so much chaos and all." 

He smiled slightly, as if he'd scored a point. Damn him. "Let's go back in," he suggested. "It's getting cold, and I'm sure Leia is wondering what happened to us." 

"I think she's afraid that white woolly creature might eat us like it did the ysalamiri," Mara said, as she followed Skywalker back up the gangplank into the ship. 

"Oh, the Thernbee? Don't worry, it's actually pretty harmless," Skywalker said. "It's not really interested in eating people at all. Kueller kept it in his dungeons and it was slowly starving to death. It was really happy to see those ysalamiri--" 

Mara let Skywalker natter away about his animal friend as they made their way back to the passenger lounge where Organa Solo was waiting for them. "Have a nice walk?" she asked, as the two of them entered. 

"Very educational," Luke said, with a sidewise glance at Mara. "I have a lot to think about." 

"I'm sure," Organa Solo said, the faintest hint of a smile on her face. 

Mara glared at her. "Any new developments with getting out of this place?" 

Organa Solo shrugged. "They're still arguing. Right now, it's about who lost the last pair of hydrospanners. We'll be here until they sort it out." 

"I don't have time for this," Mara said, stalking over to the doorway to the aft cabin. "If they don't get us airborne in thirty minutes, I'm going to shoot them both--" 

It was amazing what a well-timed threat could do. They were off-planet in ten.


End file.
